The present invention generally relates to the field of portable storage devices for electronic data, and more specifically to card-type devices having both linear magnetic and annular optical data storage regions, such data regions possessing the capability to be written at least once and read several times.
As technological advances have created more powerful and sophisticated electronic equipment at astounding speeds over the years, the size of the software, programs and generated data have grown at proportionally higher rates. Technology that was once 4-bit resolution became 8-bit, which in turn became 16-bit and so forth. As a result, the need for higher capacity data storage has been triggered by such developing technology. For example, at one time, early consumer image scanners were only capable of scanning black and white images, which were typically no more than 300 kilobytes in size (approximately ⅙ the storage capacity of a standard floppy diskette) Today, high resolution consumer color image scanners produce images with millions of colors which are typically as large as 100 megabytes or greater (approximately 50 floppy diskettes). Thus, such advancements in technology demand higher capacity data storage and clearly, such advancements have created a need for a medium capable of supporting such technology.
Ideally, a medium which is portable and easy to carry, highly durable and reliable, generally familiar to the consumer, and has an established base of compatible readers/writers is needed to fill this void. Credit cards have emerged as a standard medium that fits these qualifications. Credit cards are wallet-sized, made of a durable substrate such as plastic, can be embossed with numbers and/or letters, and posses an established market for the use and storage of such cards. Furthermore, consumers are familiar with the way credit cards work and are generally comfortable with using them. Cards in the shape of a credit card are in use by a variety of different companies for the purpose of identifying customers and storing vital information, as demonstrated by the existing use of Automatic Teller Machine (“ATM”) cards, driver's licenses membership cards, and other access cards produced for the purpose of identifications.
However, credit cards in their current state have a severe limitation which impedes their ability to be used for more sophisticated purposes. Conventional access cards implementing a magnetic stripe have the capability of storing only a minimal amount of data. Generally, this is sufficient for storing and transmitting simple information such as account numbers and other information which does not require a great deal of data storage space. However, the magnetic stripe alone is insufficient to store large amounts of data. Thus, a higher capacity media used in conjunction with the standardized credit card medium may enhance the capabilities of the current credit cards and similar access cards.
Although several different forms of media with high data storage capacities are available, two have emerged as standards; magnetic data regions and optical data regions. Magnetic data storage involves the electrical encoding of analog or digital information on a magnetic surface. Magnetic data stripes found on credit cards are “swiped” linearly past the detector/encoder element of the read/write device. Magnetic media, as found in floppy diskettes, hard disk drives, and removable disks, is capable of storing larger amounts of data by spinning the storage material around an axis perpendicular to the plane of the surface of the storage material and aligning annular data “tracks” in either concentric parallel nested circular tracks or in a single concentric spiral track.
Optical data regions provide significantly larger storage capacities over magnetic medica of comparable size. Two types of optical regions have been developed: those implemented in an annular fashion and those composed of strips or are generally non-annular in form. Annular optical discs are rapidly spun around a stationary assembly where data is then read through a beam of focused light off of concentric or spiral data tracks embedded in the optical disc. Such discs are typically composed of three types of layers which vary in composition depending on the type of optical disc. One layer is composed of a reflective material which allows an optical lens to reflect the beam of focused light off the optical disc and read the binary data back into the optical readers. A second layer contains the data, which is formed by marks or pits in a permanently encoded form found in mass manufactured audio CDs and computer CD-ROMs, or an organic dye polymer such as cyanine, phthalocyanine or azo as used in CD-Recordable discs. Alternatively, CD-Rewriteable discs utilize a polycrystalline layer that alternates between “amorphous” and “ordered” states to mimic pits and marks. Both the reflective layer and the data layer are embedded between two layers of a supporting structure, typically comprising a plastic, resin, or polycarbonate substrate.
Non-annular optical data regions and optical strips are typically composed of the similar types of material, yet can be less efficient than annular optical data regions. Existing cards which utilize on-annular optical regions or strips have severely limited data transfer rates due to the excessive amount of time that is typically required to read data from the optical strip. To scan an optical strip, either the card or the scanning beam must continuously move back and forth along successive lines of the data track to read the data. This process requires a specialized apparatus specifically designed to read such optical strips, and also requires very high precision in alignment of the card and scanning beams. It is due to this limitation that a number of inventions utilizing such optical strips necessarily disclose a proprietary apparatus for reading and/or writing to the optical strips.
It is intended in this application that any reference to CD, DVD, and/or LD will include not only the listed formats, but also contemplates other optical formats now known or later developed based upon the same technological concepts. Additionally, any reference to a tray-loading, caddy-loading, cartridge-loading, slot-loading, or hub-loading optical drive device is intended to include existing industry-standard optical drive devices as well as any other loading format now known or later developed based upon the same technological concepts.
Ideally, if an optical disc were to conform to either the 5 inch or 3 inch standard currently in use by CD, DVD, and/or LD device drives, the size and shape of the disc allow it to be compatible with most computer systems, stereo systems and other devices which incorporate industry standard optical drives. When CD players and CD-ROM drives were first developed, music and software publishers contemplated the use of two distinct sizes of optical discs: the 5 inch CD and the 3 inch CD (“Mini-CD”). Thus, CD, DVD, and LD drive devices with tray-loading carriage mechanisms came to be manufactured with trays that are compatible with both 5 inch and inch optical discs. Such trays have recessed grooves which allow the 3 inch discs to fit snugly into the tray and ensure that the disc is precisely aligned with the optical beam when the tray is closed. Due to the close spacing between data tracks on an annular optical disc, it is necessary that the disc be precisely aligned with the optical beam. Early optical drives were not manufactured with such specialized grooves and in response to this demand, music and software publishers sometimes included an adapter to convert 3 inch discs into a 5 inch size or sold such adapters separately. By using such an adapter, 3 inch discs could be read by any optical drive which reads 5 inch optical discs.
Similarly, caddy-loading optical drives were developed to provide a more stable environment for the optical disc during spin-up and also incorporated the 3 inch recessed grooves. Further, CD and CD-ROM changer systems utilizing a cartridge-loading mechanism were designed to support such 3 inch discs by incorporating the 3 inch recessed grooves into the cartridges. Thus, 3 inch optical discs are fully supported by the industry and are considered to be an established standard in optical disc size.
A credit card shaped data storage card including an embedded linear magnetic stripe, formed to be compatible with existing 3 inch and/or 5 inch optical drive devices, would allow for a higher capacity of data storage, providing a more sophisticated identification system which could read massive amounts of data from the card to verify the identity of the user and effectuate different transactions. Such identification information may be composed of a genetic fingerprint, retinal scan data, voice signatures, photographic images, digital signatures, encryption algorithms and/or countless other types of information which ensure a more accurate form of identification. Additionally, allowing the data to be stored on the access card itself lifts an enormous burden off the system resources of access card readers, which would otherwise be required to store such large amounts of data internally. For example, if a financial institution were to implement a sophisticated identification system that uses retinal and voice scans in conjunction with a conventional magnetic-stripe access card, literally gigabytes or terabytes of information might need to be stored inside the identification system due to the large size of the graphics and sound files. A high capacity data storage card may allow for a cost effective access card reader which has a lower system resource requirement. Such an access card reader capable of reading a high capacity data storage card may then be distributed in areas of the world where an access card reader may otherwise be too expensive to maintain, such as third world countries. Further, a financial institution could store a consumer's complete account history with a self contained program which executes on the customer's home or laptop computer.
To implement the promise of such an access card, a way must be found to make them compatible with contemporary computers, ATM machines, magnetic stripe readers, and optical drives to allow everyday use by lay consumers. Contemporary systems using an optical strip generally require the use of a specialized read/write apparatus. Some prior art devices combine both linear magnetic stripes with optical strips while others combine linear magnetic stripes with annular optical regions. Although adding an optical region or optical strip is advantageous due to the increased data capacity, the read/write apparatus may be costly and difficult to integrate into a current marketplace that may be less responsive to integrating a new technology. Existing card readers might need to be updated with a specialized apparatus, causing a higher expenditure for those who wish to integrate the card and a burden on consumers who are unfamiliar with the technology. Additionally, the optical region integrated into contemporary devices is typically configured to be a read-only data region, utilizing prerecorded data. A read-only data region may provide a secure form of transferring data such that the data written to the card will be unalterable by any means. However, the use of an annular optical data region would provide the benefit of selecting from a variety of materials for the data layer such as an organic dye polymer used in CD-Recordables, polycrystalline used in CD-Rewriteables, or a permanent read-only form. CD-writers are readily available in the marketplace and generally inexpensive. Such CD-writers could potentially be used for the purpose of reading and writing data to annular optical data regions whereas optical strips may not be compatible with conventional CD-writers, and may require a specialized apparatus or manufacturing process to read and write data.
Integrating both a magnetic stripe and an annular optical data region presents the additional problem of providing a card body sufficiently thin enough to pass through a magnetic stripe reader. Conventional credit cards are formed with a thickness of approximately 0.76 mm while conventional annular optical discs may be formed with a thickness of approximately 1.20 mm. Combining both an annular optical data region and a magnetic stripe in a single card requires that the card be engagable with both an optical drive carriage and magnetic stripe reader depending on the thickness allowed by the magnetic stripe reader. Magnetic stripe “swipe” type readers may allow a card having a thickness of approximately 0.96 mm. Due to this thickness limitation, a conventional optical disc may be too thick to pass through magnetic stripe reader. Consequently, a card having both an annular optical data region and a magnetic stripe may be too thick to pass through a magnetic stripe reader if configured with a thickness of 1.20 mm.
A data storage card formed with both an optical annular region and a magnetic data region may also provide a data storage medium for online transactions. Due to the explosive growth of the Internet and online transactions, payments are typically made online via the time consuming process of manually entering customer information and credit card numbers for purchases. Although retailers accept payment via credit cards using magnetic stripe readers, online retailers are continually searching for a way to expedite online transactions by making the payment process as easy as possible. Lay consumers may find a product of interest on the Internet but may be dissuaded from making an online purchase due to the difficulty of inputting account information for fear that such a transaction may require extensive computer knowledge to complete. Thus, several online purchases may be initiated by customers intending to make a purchase but do not ever complete the process, thereby causing the online retailer to lose potential business. In addition, lay consumers may be skeptical of gaining the trust of the Internet and be generally unwilling to input credit card numbers manually into a computer for transmission over the Internet. This fear may be reinforced by the view that hackers are lurking on the Internet waiting to intercept such transactions. Although encryption technology may be as strong as a 128-bit level, encryption technology is continually developing to provide a safer means of transmitting data over potentially unsecured communications lines such as the Internet. A data storage card having an annular optical data region and a magnetic stripe formed to be compatible with a consumer's computer may further allow a consumer to confidently make online purchases. Such a card may be formed to allow a consumer to confidently make online purchases. Such a card may be formed to allow a consumer to insert the card into their personal computer with the need to manually input account information. In this respect, a consumer may present the card at a retailer's magnetic stripe reader for making purchases and may additionally make online purchases from home by inserting the card into a personal computer. Additionally, providing a high data capacity may allow for the card to incorporate a more sophisticated encryption algorithm. Using such security means over the Internet may further alleviate the fears of consumers. Thus, both the difficulty of making an online purchase and a fear of safely transmitting account information may dissuade a potential customer from making an online purchase. It is clear that an ideal data storage card is needed which has the capacity to store large amounts of data, has the ability to accommodate future technologies which may expand the data storage space, is compatible with existing read/write devices, is portable and easy to carry, is highly durable and reliable, is generally familiar to the consumer, provides security features, and most importantly allow seamless and expedient integration into the marketplace.
Contemporary devices have a shape and size roughly the same as a credit card. However, there is generally minimal attention dedicated to compatibility issues which may arise if the card was specifically used in ATM machines or other existing devices. There are tens of thousands of ATM machines in use today and there are several different mechanisms in use which allow the ATM cards to be read. Among the varieties of ATM card mechanisms are those which incorporate a stationary magnetic stripe “swiper,” while others require the ATM card to be physically inserted into the drive mechanism/roller drive mechanism. A commonly used ATM tractor drive pulls the card onto a series of rollers arrayed along the center of the card. Current ATM cards are properly adapted to operate in such ATM machines. However, a card having an obstacle, void or physical restraint in the center of the card may become stuck by one of the rollers. This may cause a card to become trapped in and disable feed mechanisms of ATM machines currently in use.
Accordingly, there is a need for a data storage card that incorporates both a magnetic strip and an annular optical region, which is compatible with currently existing optical device drives and magnetic strip readers in widespread use. The present invention addresses the above-described deficiencies of a conventional credit cards, providing an access card having high capacity data storage in a credit-card-shaped medium which may be read/written by industry standard optical drives and ATM machines.